Excerpt from the great article by Chris Garrett and published on Copyblogger:"How do you decide which content should be freely available and which content you ought to charge for?Of course the answers will differ between different industries, topics, businesses, and writers.First, we need to decide what your free content should do for you.

What can you achieve with free content?The reason you are putting together all these free articles, podcasts, videos, and presentations, is that you want to get attention that grows your business.With that in mind, here are some benefits that free content can provide for you, and the kinds of content that you should share:

- Free content can attract your specific target audience;- Free content can encourage sharing your ideas;- Free content can connect you with peers;- Free content can inform the audience of your value;- Free content can position you against competitors;- Free content can answer objections;- Free content can show proof and results;- Free content can provide more reasons “why”;- Free content can give a “free taste” that builds desire for the full meal;- Free content can tell your story to show people who you are as a person;- Free content can reward prospects for their attention;

Here’s when you should hoard informationThere is a circumstance where your information is worth holding back and providing only to paying customers.That is when:

1. People really want the information because it has significant valueIf the information could...- Provide a massive transformation in their life or business;- Make them a great deal of money;- Save them lots of time;- Make them more popular;

...then they will be much more willing to invest in your solution.

2. The information is difficult to acquireYes, Google has exposed many things for free that had previously been knowledge reserved for the elite few.But that doesn’t necessarily mean that your prospect can find it, or that the information is even out there and indexed. Many of the thought leaders and gurus we know are in their positions because they hopped on a shiny new platform or tool and mastered it before anyone else.

Why people buy contentPart of the reason people will pay is because of trust.It’s a weird psychological factor that people will trust education that they paid for more than something you gave away. The reason is because it has a higher perceived value, and also there is an implied “warranty.”

In addition...- People will pay for in-depth, step-by-step guidance;- People will pay for access and tailored advice;- People will pay for exclusivity;- People will pay for higher quality and better technology;- People will pay for experiences;

What you should never give awayIt’s difficult to give hard and fast rules, because for each of these ideas someone out there will be the exception.But in general here is what your free content should not be:- Free content shouldn’t be too complete;- Free content shouldn’t give too much of the “how”;- Free content shouldn’t provide free access;- Free content shouldn’t involve a high barrier to entry;- Free content shouldn’t cover advanced topics with many prerequisites;- Free content shouldn’t require hard work by the reader;

Bottom LineI don’t believe it is possible to be too helpful or too generous … provided you manage your time and energy, and that people know you are in business.As mentioned earlier, you can give away everything you know and still there will be people who want to hear it from you, and who will pay you to help them implement it.So share your best ideas, build your Minimum Viable Audience, and then make offers at the appropriate time.It works..."

A selected group of Manchester United fans living far away from England have had a unique opportunity offered to them: seeing their favorite soccer team while sitting in the front row of the Old Trafford stadium.

Thanks to Google Hangout technology, connected fans from far away countries have been able to cheer their stars by appearing in real time inside the advertising panels that surround the soccer field while being connected from their original countries.

"For the first time ever, Google+ brought fans around the world to show their support at Old Trafford - live.

Featuring Lee and Thendo from South Africa, Nina from Ethiopia, Jorge from Mexico, Louis from Malaysia, Maria from USA and Hefani from Namibia."

A fantastic way to engage fans and to nurture the Manchester United extended online community.

Excerpt from the useful article by Neil Patel and published on his Quick Sprout Blog:"Content marketing is more than writing blogs. Way more.If you’re just getting involved in content marketing, the first thing you need to do is launch your blog and start writing.Then, when your blog is established and purring along, try throwing in a new type of content.

But before I share the 15 types of content that will drive you more traffic, there are a few things you need to know:- You don’t need to try all of these examples - different content types suit different brands in different ways.

- Don’t be afraid to try new stuff – I’ve found that some people shy away from new types of content because they think it will take too long, be too hard, or fall flat. I understand your apprehension, but I encourage you to try it anyway.

- Pick one and put it in your schedule – if you use a content marketing schedule, slot one or two of these into the editorial calendar for the next month.

- This list is not exhaustive – I encourage you to think of content not in terms of types but ideas. The form that the content takes is secondary. The idea is primary.

Conclusion:The more types of content you use, the more powerful your content marketing efforts become. Content, regardless of its form, speaks to an audience. That audience, in turn, listens, shares, learns, and converts.

There’s a wealth of potential here — the kind of potential that your brand needs in order to advance to the next level. Now, you have a plan to get there..."

Creating powerful content that grows your business can be a discouraging process. It’s possible to spend countless hours producing something to help your brand reach the next level, only to discover that it does little in the way of improving engagement, traffic, or sales. The good news is that there are many content marketing tools available to help you streamline the process.

Content Curation ToolsThese tools help you discover and gather content around the Web that is related to a particular topic, then display it in a meaningful and easily digestible format.Content Creation ToolsVisualize digital content — without the need for designers — with these tools.Tools for Finding Content WritersIf you want to create great brand content, you need someone to do the heavy lifting. These tools help you find writers and designers to take your ideas and make them come to life.Content Promotion and Distribution ToolsMake sure that your great content is seen and read by your target audience by leveraging these platforms.Content Marketing Analytics and Tracking ToolsUse these tools to track engagement and analyze the effectiveness of your distributed marketing content.

Excerpt from the article published by Social Media Examiner:"Getting Facebook fans to your website is even more critical with Facebook’s recent announcement of decreased organic reach for pages.Use these five steps to help you get more traffic Facebook to your website.

#1: Make Sure You Have a Steady Stream of Shareable Content on Your WebsiteThese days, the name of the game is content marketing and you had better figure out how your business can participate.Posting something new and helpful once a week or even once a month can benefit your website traffic.Here are some ideas that can help you brainstorm how you can add new content to your website:- Post a weekly tip about your niche;- Post a weekly news bite with a photo;- Curate a list of top 10 helpful articles;- Interview someone in your office or in your industry.

#2: Make it Easy to Share Your Content to Facebook on Your WebsiteOnce you have fresh content, you need to make it shareable. Your first step is to add a social share plugin and/or Facebook Share buttons.I like using the Digg Digg plugin because it has all of the buttons I want to display and it floats along the side of the post as the reader scrolls through the article.Also consider asking for a Facebook share if you feel you have a particularly helpful blog post.

#3: Optimize Your Facebook Postshere are basically three different ways you can post a link to your website:- The traditional way to post a link is just to cut and paste the link into the status section and allow the link to pull in the photo and metadata.- Another way to post a link is to post a photo and then add the link into the status update with a little blurb about the link.- One technique that has been popular in the past to get greater reach is to post your link in the status section and then “X-out” the link data that is pulled in to change the post to “text only,” even though it has a link in it.

#4: Optimize Other Places on Facebook to Add Links to Your WebsiteTo drive more traffic to your website, make sure you have links in other parts of your Facebook page that people may be visiting.- Use your About page- Add links to your milestones- Add links in your photo descriptions- Use custom tabs with links to your website- Optimize your personal profile

#5: AdvertiseWith Facebook’s recent announcements about decreased organic reach, advertising is going to be even more critical for marketers.To drive traffic to your website, you can either create an ad from scratch with a link to your website, or boost content that you’ve already posted. When you boost content, remember to post something that doesn’t have a photo that has more than 20% text in it or it won’t get approved by Facebook..."

Samsung unveiled a suite of new wearables and a new flagship handset at Mobile World Congress this morning. Compared to their predecessors, the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Gear 2 add a sleeker design aesthetic and a host of new features ...

Jessica Gioglio, Social Media Strategist for Dunkin Donuts, and Ekaterina Walter, Co-founder and CMO of Branderati, join the Social Pros Podcast this week to discuss their new book The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to Use Visuals, Videos, and Social Media to Market Your Brand.

The skill set is shifting, says Jessica. A writing background is key to thinking about the whole lifecycle of the content. It’s not just about creating; today’s social pros need to think about how content travels across platform and how it gets consumed.

They see companies hiring more visual artists to create content but also people with publishing backgrounds. “It’s not just about which content you create and which context you put it in,” Jessica says. “It’s about speed too.” What is the right time to produce the right content for the right audience in the right format? Those are a lot of cross-disciplinary skills...

I'm not suggesting for making your emails less promotional or saying you need to reevaluate how many emails you send, but you should use some simple methods to keep the spark alive. Your brand, products, services has a voice. They add value to your clients' lifestyles. You have more to say than

If you are wondering if negative SEO has happened to your site, there are two simple ways to determine this:

If you have a notice in Google Webmaster Tools for either malware notification or unnatural link building, there is a good chance negative SEO has taken place (assuming you didn’t do any unnatural SEO to your own site). If your analytics data is reporting a huge drop in search traffic, there is a good chance some negative SEO happened (assuming you didn’t do anything to break Google’s webmaster guidelines).

We are being asked by a number of clients to help them push negative links off the first couple of pages of Google so it's a real threat and one you should take seriously. Ask us for advice if you are not sure your site is affected and we can do some quick checks for you.

The ancient saying that a picture is worth 1000 words comes as no surprise to content marketers. Images arouse emotions, set the tone for your writing, help you tell a better story, and aid your readers in “seeing” what you’re trying to convey in words.

We all carry stress at one point or another. The feeling of being overwhelmed with responsibilities, to the point where our central nervous system begins to turn on us, is simply a part of life. Now new research suggests men and women tend to respond in markedly different ways.

Scientists from several international universities found that men under stress generally respond by becoming more withdrawn and acting more as an individual. Women, on the other hand, become prosocial. They share their stress with others, hoping to elicit empathy, and expect to be relied on when other members in their group are stressed, too. Where men become more self-centered, thinking their emotions are universally shared, women often become more compassionate, the team argues.

From zero to $19B of business value in five years; WhatsApp's sale to Facebook is an important moment in the history of the consumer web. The deal proves distribution, reach and large user bases aren't the competitive moats they once were. Apple's App Store and Google Play have leveled the playing field to such an extent that a startup can command 10% of the market cap from a $200B company.

Interesting point of view of Tomasz Tunguz on what the AppStore model had to do in WhatsApp's massive valuation.

I'm not sure I agree with everything he writes though. Yes, the AppStore is very competitive and the old tricks don't work there. Yes, increased competitions and a short-tail distribution means higher outcomes and rewards for those who make it. But I'm not sure the model is that virtuous:

- first, I'm not sure it favors innovation that much: web sites are optimized on a daily basis (or actually often multiple changes per day) while Apps need to go through approval processes and tests, etc...

- second, as Andrew Chen pointed out, this hit or miss market the AppStore is means that mobile startups are failing without a second chance to iterate and come out with the right product.

Interesting point of view of Tomasz Tunguz on what the AppStore model had to do in WhatsApp's massive valuation.

I'm not sure I agree with everything he writes though. Yes, the AppStore is very competitive and the old tricks don't work there. Yes, increased competitions and a short-tail distribution means higher outcomes and rewards for those who make it. But I'm not sure the model is that virtuous:

- first, I'm not sure it favors innovation that much: web sites are optimized on a daily basis (or actually often multiple changes per day) while Apps need to go through approval processes and tests, etc...

- second, as Andrew Chen pointed out, this hit or miss market the AppStore is means that mobile startups are failing without a second chance to iterate and come out with the right product.

Great recap of what you should have in mind to align your social and SEO efforts. Some of them are easy to implement tips, some of them are harder to embrace. In particular, the #1 - "publish high quality content".

The reality is that no matter how many tips you receive or how many times you're being told to publish high quality content, creating content remains hard.

For busy professionals and businesses however, curating relevant content on your areas of expertise is more accessible: you're probably reading a lot of the content worth sharing anyway so you're just a few clicks away from publishing it and making an impact with it.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.